Senior Percy Boyle, band Dale Patchouli play the Vera Project
Bella Anderson, Staff Reporter
Originally published January 29, 2016
Jackson Croy (Left to right) Dale Patchouli members Emma Roffey, Stella Stanard and senior Percy Boyle sit outside the Vera Project after their set at Party Against the Patriarchy. Stanard, the band’s founding member, met Roffey and Boyle playing shows prior to Dale Patchouli’s formation.
Youth run music and arts venue Vera Project held its semi annual Party Against the Patriarchy, a concert hosted by Center School’s Intersectional Feminism Club on Dec. 11. The lineup consisted of local bands Dale Patchouli, The Pretty Uglies and Lisa Prank.
Senior Percy Boyle is the drummer for Dale Patchouli, who opened the show. Their eclectic punk vibe pulsated through the venue as young people of all shades of hair dye and army jackets began to trickle closer to the stage and awkwardly sway in a way that could appropriately pass as “this is the first band of the night” dancing.
Positioned on stage in front of Boyle’s drum set were his bandmates, Holy Names Academy seniors Stella Stanard, on bass and backup vocals, and Emma Roffey, on guitar and lead vocals. All three members sported a uniform of blue jeans and a black turtleneck.
The bandmates were introduced when each of them already belonged to separate bands, none of them particularly close friends with the others.
“Actually, Emma and I weren’t really friends. Because I never really talked to anybody,” Stanard said, laughing. “I was more scared of Emma than Percy.”
Boyle was part of a guitar and drums duo called the Bewlay Brothers with senior Jasper Coté when Stanard asked him to fill in for her band, Trash Bag, at a house show where Roffey’s band, Hardly Boys, was performing. With that night’s intersection of the three musicians, Dale Patchouli was conceived.
After Dale Patchouli’s set, Stanard rushed into the room excitedly to announce that all six of the band’s shirts had sold. According to Roffey, one of the band’s inspirations comes from a group called Cherry Glazer.
“The two girls were in high school when they started playing, and we’ve got a similar concept,” Roffey said. Stanard agreed, noting that much of their lyrical and musical inspiration comes from high school and daily experiences.
“I think it’s definitely Emma’s vision mostly,” Boyle said. “Sometimes we’re just trying to have fun and write something that’s funny.”
Dale Patchouli’s demos can be found at https://dalepatchouli.bandcamp.com/.
Jackson Croy
Emma Roffey plays guitar. Many call her guitar playing cool.
Jackson Croy
The Pretty Uglies playing their set: Sean Devenney (vocals, bass and guitar; senior at Garfield), Stella Harvey (guitar, vocals; senior at The Center School), Cameron Sonju (vocals, guitar and bass; junior at The Center School), Soleil Slawson (drums; senior at Nathan Hale High School).
Jackson Croy
When asked “who’s the fastest runner in Dale Patchouli?”, the band lined up and sprinted from one end of the courtyard to the other. Senior Percy Boyle, who finished first, hit the wall so hard he tore off a scab on his hand. “I hit the wall really hard,” Boyle said.
